Our Work Is Organized Around Policy Initiatives

OBC is dedicated to expanding shared prosperity across Oregon. We advocate policies and public investments to promote economic development and job growth, strengthen Oregon’s workforce and education systems, and create greater economic mobility for historically marginalized communities.

We pursue these objectives through specific policy initiatives. In economic development our focus is to bolster traded sector industries, especially manufacturing. In education and workforce we want to see Oregon achieve better outcomes in public education and build a stronger, more diverse workforce to strengthen the economy and the personal prospects of Oregonians. Both of these efforts complement safety net policies that we advocate, such as expanded uptake of the Earned Income Tax Credit, to increase economic mobility and shared prosperity, in particular for BIPOC and rural communities.

From time to time we also address other statewide issues ripe for attention. Recent examples include a need to update state water management policies and find a way to make broadband services more accessible to more Oregonians.

As a context for this work, we embrace the vision of the Oregon Business Plan, an economic development forum that OBC manages in conjunction with other business associations.